(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations implement most provisions of Directive 2013/11/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21st May 2013 on alternative dispute resolution for consumer disputes and amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 and Directive 2009/22/EC (OJ L 165 18.6.2013, p.63) (the "Directive"). The remaining provisions of the Directive will be implemented in future regulations. A Transposition Note detailing how these Regulations implement the Directive in the UK is available from the BIS website at www.gov.uk/bis.

Regulation 2 contains an obligation on the Secretary of State to review the Regulations. Regulations 3 to 7 set out the definitions used in the Regulations and provides that the Regulations do not apply to contracts for health services.

Regulation 8 and Schedule 1 make provision as to the persons which are a competent authority for the purposes of these Regulations, and the bodies or areas in respect of which a competent authority exercises its functions.

Regulation 9 requires a body seeking to be an approved provider of ADR services to provide certain information, specified in Schedule 2, to the relevant competent authority. The competent authority may only grant approval to an applicant ADR entity if it is satisfied that it meets the requirements specified in Schedule 3, and in certain cases additional requirements, as provided in paragraph (5).